1) Which stage of the demographic transition theory is each country currently in How did you determine this United States is in the 3rd stage of demographic transition theory. United States is one of the known developed countries in the world. The following factors are the reasons why United States is put in 3rd stage of DTT. First, United States has a very low death rate. Low death rate denotes technological advances in different areas such as medicine and nutrition. Second reason is the decline in the fertility rate as Americans engage to many social, economic and cultural changes. Thus, the reasons lead to a slow steady growth rate. However, United States is still experiencing population growth rate.

Haiti is in the 2nd stage of DTT. Haiti was put in stage 2 because of the very high birth rate but with a very low death rate. The very low death rate was due to improvements in sanitation, medicine and other factors that may lead improvement of a persons life Although Haiti is not seen to be a developing country, the low death rate is enough to put Haiti in 2nd stage of DTT.

Sierra Leone is in the 2nd stage of DTT. High birth and low death rates are the reason for putting Sierra Leone in 2nd stage of DTT. Developments in sanitation, medicine and nutrition are still in development in this country. The developing sanitation, medicine and nutrition are enough to prevent diseases. Thus, limiting the death rate to only 12 deaths per thousand as compared to its very high birth rate which is 39.08 births per thousand.

Saudi Arabia is in the 2nd stage of DTT. Although, Saudi Arabia may soon reach 3rd stage of DTT as it closes to becoming fully industrialized. Saudi Arabia is a developing country with a very high birth rate compared to its very low death rate. Saudi is on the verge of dramatic population growth.

Japan is in the 3rd stage of DTT. Japan is one of the developed countries in the world. Aside from being a developed country, one can also see that the overall fertility rate of Japan is very low. In addition, the death rate of Japan is greater than its birth rate. Thus, Japan will have a very slow movement in its population growth and may even pose a decline in population.

2) According to the statistics you have collected, what is going to happen to population growth (rapid growthslow growthstabilized growthpopulation will begin to decline) in the near future for each of the five countries How do you know this

United States will have a slow growth in population. The slow growth in population can be attributed to the low birth and death rates of the country. In addition, the birth rate is only a bit higher than the death rate of the country. Furthermore, the fertility rate for the said country is also very low. Sierra Leone, Haiti and Saudi Arabia will have a rapid growth in population. The rapid growth in population can be observed in the very high birth rate and low death rates of the said countries. The rapid growth rate is more significant in Saudi Arabia. The very low death rate of Saudi Arabia is a very significant sign of rapid growth rate. On the other hand, Japan will have a decline in population. The decline in the population in Japan can be attributed to the ratio between the birth and death rate. The death rate of Japan is higher than its birth rate. Thus, the ratio between birth rate and death rate will be smaller. Therefore, a decline in the population will be observed for the country. The growth in population is determined through the overall fertility of a country. The overall fertility of a country includes the birth rate, death rate and fertility rate. Usually, when birth rate is greater than death rate then there is growth. On the other hand, when death rate is greater than the birth rate then there will be a decline. In addition, the demographic transition theory also helps in determining the trend in population as it determines the development of a certain country.

3) According to the data, how would you rank each country according to the World Systems Perspective (Core, Semi-Periphery, and Periphery) Why (Use the readings and lecture notes to answer this question.)

United States is ranked as a core country. Core countries are countries that have high economic status. In addition, levels of development in core countries are very high compared to other countries. The very high development can be seen through different aspects of the economy such us trade flow, transportation etc. Thus, developed countries are considered as core countries.

Haiti is a periphery country. Haiti has a low economic state. In addition, Haiti is a country which is on the verge of development. Haiti is vulnerable and is affected to changes made by core countries. Thus, one can also consider poor developing countries to be periphery countries.

The same is true with Sierra Leone. Sierra Leone is also a periphery country since it is vulnerable and is affected by the changes by some of the core countries. Sierra Leone also has a low economic level and only relies to the economic changes of United Kingdom which is a core country.

Saudi Arabia is a country ranked as a semi-periphery. Saudi Arabia is rich developing country that has a stable economic level. Saudi Arabia shadows some of the countries in the Middle East. Thus, Saudi Arabia has some of the qualities of a core country. However, Saudi Arabia also has some qualities of a periphery country since resources from Saudi Arabia were still exploited by some of the core countries as they need to market their crude oil to core countries.

Japan is ranked as a core country. Japan has very high economic level. In addition, Japan is one of the leaders in development which is embraced by other countries. Japan is also known to exploit resources of other neighboring nations such as South Korea.4) Examine the data you gathered for each country from both the World Bank and the Central Intelligence Agency. Is there a connection between their level of technological advancement (measured as a) access to improved water sources b) access to improved sanitation facilities c) percentage of Internet users and d) high-technology exports) and their World System level standing

Access to sanitation and water resources does not have any connection to the world ranking of each of the country since all of the stated countries has missing values on this category of technological advancement. Access to sanitation and water resources is essential for every country. From the data obtained from World Bank, it showed that most of the countries have reached the highest level of access to sanitation and water resources in 2000.

On the other hand, percentage of Internet users has a connection to the to the world system level standing. The observed trend is increasing. As the percentage of Internet users increases, the world system level standing also increases. United States is ranked number 1 among the five countries included in this discussion and number 2 in the world rankings. The percentage of internet users in the said country is also the highest in the five countries. The same is true for Japan. Japan is ranked second among the five countries and ranked number 3 in the world. Japan is also second to USA in percentage of internet users. The order of the ranking and percentage of internet users is as follows, USA, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Haiti and Sierra Leone.

The same is true for high-technology exports. The high-technology exports have an increasing trend together with world system level standing. As the percentage of high-technology export increases, the world system level standing also increases. United States is ranked number one among the five countries discussed. The high-technology export of USA is the highest among the five countries discussed. The order of the ranking and high-technology export is as follows, USA, Japan, Saudi Arabia, Haiti and Sierra Leone.5) Examine the data related to the four measures of technological advancement. How have they changed since 2000 for each of the five countries Does either the World Bank or World Factbook provide any other possible measures of technological advancement If yes, what additional measures do they provide

Sanitation and water resources have been missing after a value is stated year 2000 for all the countries being discussed. Access to sanitation and water resources is essential for every country. From the data obtained from World Bank, it showed that most of the countries have reached the highest level of access to sanitation and water resources in 2000.

All the five countries showed an increasing trend in the percentage of Internet users from 2000 up to the present. The increasing trend in internet users is due to factors such as increase in education in technology use and changes in technology. Technology is already reaching other countries in a fast rate On the other hand, United States and Japan has a decreasing trend in percentage of High-technology exports. The decrease in High-technology exports can be attributed to the increase in high-technology export of other countries not included in the discussion. Saudi Arabia has an increasing trend in the export of high-technology. While, Sierra Leone and Haiti do not have any export of high-technology products from 2000 up to the present. Sierra Leone and Haiti does not have the economic capacity to export high-technology products.

From the data of World Bank and World fact book, I have seen factors that can be used to possibly measure technological advancement of countries. The said factors are mobile cellular subscriptions of countries and number of Internet hosts per country.6) What was your general impression of your findings Were they surprising Why Was there a particular statistic that stood out to you Please explain why

The findings obtained from the study were very helpful in a sense that they have given me quantitative measures of several countries. It teaches me a lot on the relationship of the quantitative measures to the real situation of each country discussed. The obtained findings are evidences of how successful the said countries were. From the five countries discussed, Japan is second only to USA in high-technology exports. Even though Japan is a high-technology producing country USA still tops Japan. This is because there are many other factors that affect the high-technology exports. One factor that can be considered is the population of each country. Having a very high population means that there are also a possibility of high production. However, the findings do not surprise me a lot as some of the obtained measurements were already observed through news. From the statistics obtained, percentage of Internet users has stood up to me. Knowing that there are only a few people who are able to access the Internet from Haiti and Sierra Leone is very intriguing. There may be several factors on the low percentage of Internet users from the said countries. One factor may be education of people. People are not able to access the Internet maybe because they do not have the knowledge to do so.